Educational Media Reviews Online

“Last night, I had a dream about a tornado of white peacocks. They were all dangling in the sky.” Akram is a 50-year-old Iranian wife, mother and grandmother, and a study in contradictions. Married at the age of 9 to a 30-something neighborhood restaurateur, Akram was forced to drop out of school and begin keeping house. Fast forward 40 years – Akram, illiterate but determined to help her grandson with his homework, discovers she can paint. Akram embraces this newfound outlet of expression whole-heartedly, painting on furniture, dishes, and walls throughout her house. As she finds her way to painting on canvas, her voice gets stronger in both her paintings and in her life. And we get to see her go from hiding her canvases beneath a rug, to proudly displaying them around her home.

Iranian filmmaker Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami has incredible access to Akram, her painting, daily life observances and, most importantly, her interactions with her husband Heydar and family. Through a series of interviews and a casual observational approach, we learn about Akram’s early life as a young schoolgirl, her arranged marriage and beginning her family. We also see how the couple interacts today, what Heydar thinks of his wife painting and Akram’s musings on her husband now.

Although the film is at times inconsistent, it accomplishes something extraordinarily important by providing a much-needed unconventional observation of inequality and gender issues in contemporary Iran through its depiction of Akram and Heydar’s relationship. In training her camera so closely on this couple, Maghami effectively charts the trajectory of a traditional Muslim Iranian marriage from its typical roots of a prescribed arrangement to the effects of that arrangement in the present day to what it could be in the contemporary/future. Akram seems to gain footing in her household and relationship with Heydar through her painting. She is also bolstered considerably by the support she receives from her children. As they recognize her talent, they encourage Akram to share her paintings with a public audience. And so, Maghami catches the couple at a crossroads, as Akram struggles with asking Heydar for permission to show her paintings at a gallery in Paris and attend the opening.

In painting such a personal and lively narrative, Maghami very successfully brings these important inequality and gender issues to light.

This film will find excellent use in the study of the Middle East, women’s studies, gender studies, family studies, multicultural studies, and international relations. It could easily be used in high school classrooms and higher to motivate discussions on these and similar topics.

Awards:

• Sheffield DocFest, Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award, Best Female-Directed Film